Bond was so dashing and adventurous, it was inevitable that he would make the jump to film. And so, in 1962, Dr. No hit screens, featuring a young and dashing Sean Connery:
The cast is filled with familiar faces:
- Daniel Craig as Bond: Craig is one of those actors who will get a little grumpy on you, not on the level of Harrison Ford grumpy, but a little grumpy. In Skyfall, he seems to truly enjoy being Bond, and really has an ease with the character that we have not seen him display before. He does drink one martini, and does introduce himself, and does battle a bad guy in a pit filled with Komodo Dragons; you know, back to Bond basics.
- Judi Dench as M: This Bond movie is really more of an M movie. The villian's main motivation is getting even with M, Bond just happens to get in the way. Dench is fantastic as always as M fights her 'strongly suggested retirement' from MI6. She's tough and sassy and is a treat in this movie.
- Ralph Finnes steps in as Mallory - a representative of the ministry strongly suggesting M move on. He steps up towards the end of the film, becoming someone Bond can rely on - and helps to set up the next movie in spectacular fashion.
- Javier Bardem's Agent Silva is creepy, weird, and off-putting. In short, the perfect Bond villian. The only drawback is that he's not really trying to take over the world as previous classic villians are, he simply wants revenge, and doesn't care if he has to take over the world to achieve that goal. He stated he's always wanted to be a Bond villian, that his favorite was Jaws, and you can feel his passion for the project in his performance.
- Naomie Harris is someone I first saw in 28 Days Later, and is always good. She plays another MI6 agent, Eve, whose last name is revealed at the end of this movie - again, setting up for the next one spectacularly. She continues to be Bond's partner for the majority of this movie, while questioning her readiness for field work.
- Albert Finney steps in briefly towards the end of the movie in a fun cameo-syle performance. He's great, but I think almost everyone I've talked to has mentioned how they wished that was Sean Connery instead.
- Ben Whisaw plays the new Q, and gives Bond some grief about his age and his gadgets, which is fantastic if you're a fan of the Bond movies, because Q was always reminding Bond to bring his gadgets back in good condition!
- Berenice Marlohe plays the most typical Bond-girl role in this film. She's exotic and deadly when she first appears, but then quickly becomes an example of how twisted and powerful our villian is, so her character is rendered somewhat meaningless.
This movie, more so than the other two Craig Bonds, fits with the cannon of other Bond films. The end of this one could almost role smoothly into Dr. No. I love the final scene where M asks Bond if he is ready to get back to work. Craig is signed for two more, so we know he is, and I cannot wait.
8 out of 10. Gained points for finally giving us another Q - hooray! Lost points for Bardem's denture-type appliance, ick. Gained points for the car with the red button. Lost points for destroying the car. Gained points for M's office at the end, from the coat rack, to the weird material on the door, to Moneypenny - so awesome!
Bonus Video 1: The song is by Adele, and it is fantastic:
Bonus Video 2: There are so many great Bond movies that honestly I want to put all the trailers here, but let's be real - that is 23 movies. So here's Goldfinger, widely regarded as one of the best:
...and here's Octopussy - widely regarded as one of the worst, but one of my personal favorites! Features Maude Adams as Octopussy, who previously played a Bond girl in The Man With the Golden Gun - and remains the only actress to play two different Bond girls in two different Bond Movies (useless trivia for you).
Bonus Video 4: Cast Interviews!
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